Bruins in good position at NHL All-Star break, but can still improve.

The Bruins remain one of the NHL’s top teams, but have leveled off this month. Here’s a look at personnel who will be key to the Bruins’ stretch drive to the playoffs.

Mike Loftus

The Bruins reached the NHL All-Star break in first place in the Northeast Division, second place in the Eastern Conference, fourth place overall – and with a 5-4-1 record in their last 10 games that feels like a slump.

Here’s a look at some key personnel as the B’s head into the final 35 games of the regular season, and gear up for their defense of the Stanley Cup.

Tim Thomas

So, yeah ... you probably heard.

Right or wrong, and whether Thomas likes it or not, his decision not to join his teammates at Monday’s invitation to the White House will continue to be a topic of conversation – but less so, as long as he plays like the defending Vezina and Conn Smythe trophy-winner he is.

Truth be told, his play dipped in the month before the break. Thomas entered a New Year’s Eve game at Dallas with a 1.84 goals-against average and .943 saves percentage. Eight games later (4 wins, 4 losses, four games in which he has allowed at least 4 goals), those numbers are 2.12 and .933.

As unreasonable as it may be to expect Thomas to duplicate stats from last year and the first half of this season, it’s just as unreasonable to think that Tuukka Rask (1.82, .938) won’t start to play more if Thomas doesn’t improve on his post-break performance.

Tyler Seguin

He has cracked the NHL’s Top 25 and is tied for the team scoring lead with 43 points (19 goals, 24 assists), and leads the league at plus-24.

Great stuff – but the NHL after the break is a much tougher environment than before the break, and Seguin has to be a factor down the stretch.

A year ago, as a rookie, he didn’t dress for six games down the stretch and wasn’t in the lineup for the first two playoff rounds. Seguin doesn’t necessarily have to be Boston’s scoring leader at the end of the season, but the Bruins must be able to count on him to be a consistent threat, or they won’t be as viable a Cup contender.

Rich Peverley

This guy is like gold when he’s on his game – and with 25 assists, 33 points and a plus-18 rating, Peverley has certainly proved worthy of the contract extension ($3.25 million per year, starting next season) the Bruins gave him.

Peverley, already one of only two Boston forwards (Patrice Bergeron being the other) with full-time roles at even strength and on both specialty teams, can count on being used at different positions down the stretch – provided the undisclosed injury he rested over the holidays doesn’t flare up. The likely fill-in at right wing on the first line for as long as Nathan Horton (concussion) is out, he’s also excellent insurance if a center gets hurt or goes into a slump.

Joe Corvo

Not that the B’s parted with much (fourth-round pick) to obtain him, but the Bruins had to think they’d get more from the puck-mover/power-play defenseman than 17 widely spread-out points (2 goals, 15 assists) through 47 games: Corvo contributed only one point (assist) in the 14 games before the break, and with Andrew Ference suspended (he still has one game to serve), Corvo hasn’t taken to playing extra minutes or in more defensive situations.

None of that is fatal, provided the rest of Boston’s defense stays healthy. Still, it wouldn’t hurt Corvo’s cause, or Boston’s, if he picked up his game at both ends of the ice in the month before the NHL trade deadline.

Peter Chiarelli

The general manager hit a homer before last season’s trade deadline, acquiring key components in Peverley, Chris Kelly and, yes, Tomas Kaberle. At the same time, Chiarelli made the right choice by hanging onto unrestricted free agent Michael Ryder, who contributed a playoff performance for which Seguin wasn’t ready.

So what does the GM have up his sleeve as the Feb. 27 deadline approaches? Chiarelli can almost be counted on to shore up a defense corps that’s a bit thin, and despite the many multi-position options as he has given coach Claude Julien to work with, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him seek a decent, experienced and hungry winger who can score a few goals.

Parting with Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart to acquire the almost unknown Peverley last year proved Chiarelli will trade roster players, but with so much of last year’s Cup team intact, he may think twice before disturbing chemistry – even with a half-dozen unrestricted free agents on hand. This year, it could take draft picks and prospects to add depth for the stretch drive and postseason.